I wasn’t sure what to call this recipe creation – curry puff, spring roll, samosa? I have been craving curry puffs but wanted an easy gluten free pastry option – and so these Baked Chicken Curry Puff Spring Rolls came into being!
I’m still so impressed with how well the rice paper roll wrappers worked and how crispy they are! I’m dreaming of all the other recipes I could use this in 😀
Now, the first time I used rice paper to make traditional fresh rice paper rolls, I soaked my rice paper WAY too long in water and they proceeded to split and fall apart. Delicious, but a giant mess haha.
But don’t worry, I’ve done all the testing for you and can now impart my tips and tricks so that you don’t have the same problem.
Tips and Tricks for How to Roll Rice Paper Spring Rolls
- Use a pie or large casserole dish to hold your water for soaking – something with a flat bottom and big enough to submerge your whole piece of rice paper wrapper at once. My first attempt I used a bowl and the curved edges meant I wasn’t able to wet the whole piece of rice paper in one go resulting in different levels of softness in the paper = broken and split rolls :/
- Use a clean damp tea towel to place your rice paper onto. Wet the tea towel by sprinkling some water around. The damp cloth will stop the rice paper from sticking to the surface before rolling and will also continue to soften the rice paper as you place in the filling.
- Use warm water to soak your paper. Submerge your rice paper and count to 3. The paper will still feel firm when you take it out but it will continue to soften on the damp tea-towel. As the water cools you may need to soak a tiny bit longer (4~5 seconds); just go by feel as to what the texture should be to match the 3 second paper.
- If in doubt, pull it out! DON’T soak the rice paper for too long! It’s better to pull it out too early and let it soften a bit longer on the damp tea towel than have it break while rolling. If you accidentally soak the paper for too long, quickly wet another piece (1~2 seconds) and place it on top of the other wrapper.
- Don’t let the finished paper rolls touch each other or an un-oiled surface. Rice paper is finicky and sticky. It will stick to other rolls and plates and before you know it your beautiful rolls will be torn asunder. For fresh rolls, roll and eat straight away! Or wrap the rolls individually in glad wrap and refrigerate (the rice paper will harden a bit in the fridge). For this particular recipe, evenly place the rolls onto a cookie tray lined with baking paper and a little olive oil.
Hopefully those tips didn’t intimidate you. Like all cooking, it simply requires a bit of practice and before you know it, you’ll have the texture, timing and wrapper technique down-pat. Have fun with it 🙂 No one is really going to car if you stuff up 5 or even 50 rolls on your journey to rice paper roll wrapping master.
The above tips are just as useful for traditional rice paper rolls but for this recipe, we are doing something a little different 😀
For the Chicken Curry Puff Filling, start a day or so before and par-boil your potatoes. Place them in the fridge overnight to form some gut-loving resistant starch.
On the day of cooking; finely dice your onion and carrot and dice your cooled potatoes (no need to remove the skin).
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee, olive oil or coconut oil in a high-sided non-stick pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add in your onion and carrot and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add in the chicken mince and sauté for 10 minutes. Make sure to break up the mince with your spatula / spoon so there are no large chunks.
When the mince is half cooked, add in the curry powder, chilli powder and your choice of gluten free soy sauce (coconut aminos, tamari, gluten free soy sauce) and mix thoroughly. Continue to sauté until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is absorbed (about another 10 minutes).
Add in the frozen peas and mix through. Cook for 5 minutes or until they are defrosted. Turn your stove-top off and let the meat and vegetables mix cool. Tip! You can make this mix the day before and then just wrap on the day of cooking.
For the Spring Rolls, pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius (392 degrees fahrenheit).
Line a cookie tray with baking paper and drizzle on a tiny bit of olive oil (spread it around with your fingers). Fill a pie or casserole dish (one large enough to place your full spring roll wrapper in at once) with warm water and set it on the kitchen bench.
Set up your kitchen bench space: pie dish with warm water, next to a damp tea towel, your curry puff mix, cookie tray and your rice paper roll wrappers.
Take a piece of rice paper and submerge it fully into the warm water. Count to 3 and then lift it out and place it on the damp tea towel. The paper will still feel firm when you take it out but it will continue to soften on the damp tea-towel.
Spoon two tablespoons of the chicken curry puff mixture onto the bottom middle of the roll (the side closest to you). Shape into a rough log shape. Start by folding up the bottom of the roll over the mixture and then fold in the two sides. Roll it forward until it is all wrapped up. Place the spring roll onto your baking paper lined cookie tray.
Repeat steps 4-7 until you have used all of the chicken curry puff filling.
As your water cools you may need to soak the spring roll wrappers a tiny bit longer (4~5 seconds); just go by feel as to what the texture should be to match the 3 second paper.
And make sure when you place your rolls onto the tray they don’t touch each other, otherwise they will stick together and rip. You may end up needing two cookie trays depending on how many rolls you make.
See my rice paper roll tips above for more hints of how to become a rice paper rolling master!
Once your tray is full, brush each spring roll with olive oil or melted coconut oil and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Bake on the middle tray of your oven for 30 minutes or until crispy.
Enjoy hot straight out of the oven or cold with a refreshing salad. These also make excellent party finger food or an easily transportable meal for a road trip!
Baked Chicken Curry Puff Spring Rolls - Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 4 parboiled potatoes ~2 cups diced
- 1 large brown onion
- 1 large carrot ~1.5 cups finely diced
- 500 g chicken mince
- 5 cups frozen peas
- 4 tablespoons curry powder
- A pinch chilli powder
- 6 tablespoons coconut aminos tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 18 ~20 Vietnamese Rice Paper Roll wrappers
- 2 tablespoons ghee olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or melted coconut oil for brushing
- 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
Instructions
Chicken Curry Puff Filling
- Par-boil your potatoes the day before and place them in the fridge overnight (to form resistant starch)
- Finely dice your onion and carrot
- Dice your potatoes (no need to remove the skin)
- Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee, olive oil or coconut oil in a high-sided non-stick pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add in your onion and carrot and sauté until the onion is translucent
- Add in the chicken mince and sauté for 10 minutes. Make sure to break up the mince with your spatula / spoon so there are no large chunks
- When the mince is half cooked, add in the curry powder, chilli powder and your choice of gluten free soy sauce and mix thoroughly. Continue to sauté until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is absorbed (about another 10 minutes)
- Add in the frozen peas and mix through. Cook for 5 minutes or until they are defrosted
- Turn your stove-top off and let the meat and vegetables mix cool. Tip! You can make this mix the day before and then just wrap on the day of cooking
Spring Rolls
- Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius (392 degrees fahrenheit)
- Line a cookie tray with baking paper and drizzle on a tiny bit of olive oil (spread it around with your fingers)
- Fill a pie or casserole dish (one large enough to place your full spring roll wrapper in at once) with warm water and set it on the kitchen bench
- Set up your kitchen bench space: pie dish with warm water, next to a damp tea towel, your curry puff mix, cookie tray and your rice paper roll wrappers
- Take a piece of rice paper and submerge it fully into the warm water. Count to 3 and then lift it out and place it on the damp tea towel. The paper will still feel firm when you take it out but it will continue to soften on the damp tea-towel.
- Spoon two tablespoons of the chicken curry puff mixture onto the bottom middle of the roll (the side closest to you). Shape into a rough log shape
- Start by folding up the bottom of the roll over the mixture and then fold in the two sides. Roll it forward until it is all wrapped up
- Place the spring roll onto your baking paper lined cookie tray.
- Repeat steps 4-7 until you have used all of the chicken curry puff filling.
- As your water cools you may need to soak the spring roll wrappers a tiny bit longer (4~5 seconds); just go by feel as to what the texture should be to match the 3 second paper.
- Make sure when you place your rolls onto the tray they don’t touch each other, otherwise they will stick together and rip. You may end up needing two cookie trays depending on how many rolls you make.
- Once your tray is full, brush each spring roll with olive oil or melted coconut oil and sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
- Bake on the middle tray of your oven for 30 minutes or until crispy.
Notes
- To make this recipe vegan, replace the 500g of chicken mince with chopped cauliflower
- To make this recipe more paleo compliant, replace the peas with chopped broccoli and the potato with white sweet potato or cauliflower
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